Mack The Knife Gets NYCFC Point In Dallas

One constant through New York City Football Club’s first three seasons has been the excellence of David Villa.

Another has been the clutch play of fan favorite Thomas McNamara, who scored a game-tying goal in the 68th minute that earned NYCFC a 1-1 draw on the road against Dallas FC on Sunday night.

Dallas got on the board first in the 20th minute. After a goalmouth scramble just outside the NYCFC box, Maxi Urruti got it it to Kellyn Acosta, who reacted first and shot it low to the side of Sean Johnson for his third goal of the season.

In the 68th minute, Villa took a free kick and fired it off the crossbar, and McNamara swooped in and buried the rebound to tie the game.

McNamara said of what he saw developing on his goal, “David hits a brilliant free kick, so chances are it was going to on frame, if not even in the goal. My thought was just in case it doesn’t go in and there’s a rebound, let me get myself in a position to make a play, and that’s exactly what happened.”

NYCFC Head Coach Patrick Vieira said of the goal, “Tommy (McNamara) was really smart to anticipate and score the goal. I think when you look at the way we played in the second half, Tommy, Maxi (Moralez), and Jack (Harrison) were coming inside and we gave them a lot of problems.”

NYCFC improves to 5-2-3, 17 points, in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Red Bulls, who lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night.

McNamara said of the draw in Dallas, “It was a very difficult team. Dallas is a good side. Their fans were very loud behind them, and they put a lot of pressure on us, but I’m proud of our effort. We worked hard for each other. We fought really hard. We were committed and we came away with a big point.”